Death, Dying, and Denial in the Aged

In response to direct questioning, two dis-similar groups of elder/v subjects reported little fear of death or dying. In producing Thematic Apperception Test stories, howev-er, respondents who were well and autono-mous used less denial and expressed more affect than did those who were sick and de-pendent. The authors conclude that aging per se does not result in psychological regression. But denial and constriction of affect are used by the elderh ’ when awareness of their de-terioration and dependency compels them to face the dying process. A ZTEC LIFE has been described as a “tap-estry of death and flowers ” (I). Just as the ancients were concerned with the prob-lems, mysticism, omens, and philosophy of life and death, so have moderns sought the means of dealing with these same issues. From a psychological viewpoint, we have spent the last several years attempting to learn how the elderly feel about death and dying, and simultaneously about their atti-tudes and feelings toward living as well. From this research we have also become interested in their psychological defense mechanisms and their affective modes. This paper will attempt to outline the re-sults of three studies we have undertaken in this area. We do not claim that it is complete; on the contrary, the more we learn, the more questions we find unanswered